Scientific Glass Blowing as a career??

**Nightcat** · 06-21-2005, 12:24 PM

Has anyone investigated this as a current career option? I was wondering if this is a trade that is still in demand or if it is a another dieing field. I have spent the last 5 years trying to stay ahead of lay-offs and one of these days my number is going to come up.

I know there are several schools and then there is usually an apprenticeship but if these jobs are also going away or overseas there may not be any point in even starting...

Anyone up on this?

~Nightcat~

**SteppingRazor** · 06-21-2005, 09:41 PM

ask these guys
http://www.asgs-glass.org/
I know most major chemlabs have their own master glassworking in the house who can make custom apparatus as needed. I met one that works for Kodak once. But I understand that many commonly used stuff is made in china.
~joe

**Islandglass Man** · 06-22-2005, 04:00 AM

There will always be jobs for scientific glassblowers in the US. If you are serious about this career you should consider going to Salem College in New Jersey. Their 2 years course in scientific glassblowing will give you the right stuff to begin with. Jobs are out there but employers want qualified people with the skills to run a single man glass shop. Look at the adds for scientific glassblowing jobs on the ASGS web site. When you can handle the skills listed you qualify.

The job has changed the big apparatus manufactures have filled their catalogs with most of the standard items needed for most labs. Jobs with these manufacturers will give you a career on a semi production system. Not the most creative but it has benefits and a paycheck.

Most of my work now is either repair of standard apparatus or one of a kind items that are not found in the catalogs. China is not a threat for the special items and if you have the skills you could compete with China made items. Their glass breaks and needs repairing also.

Bear

**somberbear** · 06-22-2005, 08:10 AM

my teachers are sci glass blowers....

I have been bugging them to teach me, and they probably will one day.

Mostly i know they do repairs repairs repairs... they get special orders fairly often but the bulk of it is repair or replacement.

Most simple sciglass stuff like beakers and test tubes can be made by machine quickly and acuratly. while special carbois and jars and chambers cant be duplicated.

Just make sure you make perfect seals.... and know how to do joint and have this capacity

there are several programs in the US teaching Sci glass....

i believe Eastern carolina universtiy runs a program as well for a degree...

you can also aprentice in....

But plan to be your own shop most companys that need sci glass blowers services are small and dont need a full time blower and the over head involved in that. so have you own shop and equipment and your fairly set....

alot of universitys used to have a glass blower on staff. this has changed due to over head its cheaper to order our for repairs and every thing and convert this space into offices....

this is just my opionion of what i see in this markert .....

i will learn more sci glass stuff if nothing else but further my understanding of glass.

**Nightcat** · 06-22-2005, 08:53 AM

Thanks! I am looking at the degree programs like the one in Salem. Too bad it isn't Salem Oregon. If I get sacked...err I mean "down sized" I am covered by NAFTA and will receive educational retraining benifits, so it will be back to school for me.

I just want to explore my options. I am good at what I do and will keep doing it as long as I can.

~Nightcat~

**rustyglass** · 06-23-2005, 08:50 AM

I was thinking about the same thing, so I found a place near me and checked it out. They work quartz. It was neat, I got a tour of the place, huge torches(some made from quartz), huge lathes, HUGE kilns...etc. Quartz anneals at like 1170 something...CELCIOUS(sp)!!!

So anyway, the place was neat, what they were making was neat, BUT..... I was there around lunchtime and some of the workers were on there break when a loud buzzer sounded and everyone scurried back to their work stations. I dont know. That aspect is not for me. I enjoy my freedom too much. Somedays a little too much, to where I dont to any work at all.

If its for you I say go for it.

Rusty

**Nightcat** · 06-23-2005, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by rustyglass

I was thinking about the same thing, so I found a place near me and checked it out. They work quartz. It was neat, I got a tour of the place, huge torches(some made from quartz), huge lathes, HUGE kilns...etc. Quartz anneals at like 1170 something...CELCIOUS(sp)!!!

So anyway, the place was neat, what they were making was neat, BUT..... I was there around lunchtime and some of the workers were on there break when a loud buzzer sounded and everyone scurried back to their work stations. I dont know. That aspect is not for me. I enjoy my freedom too much. Somedays a little too much, to where I dont to any work at all.

If its for you I say go for it.

Rusty

I could deal with the buzzer. Did you get the impression they were, growing, shrinking or stable? Are they replacing the folks who retire or are they just getting smaller? I just wonder if scientific glass blowing in the USA is a stable/viable long-term career option, or if it is on it's way out also.

I have spent my entire professional career designing and building manufacturing tools.... so, yeah, I'm pretty well screwed!

~Nightcat~

**rustyglass** · 06-23-2005, 12:47 PM

Well, they werent hiring when I was there, at least not for what they are doing right now. I got the feeling that they were a little slow right now but are stable and make BIG BUCKS when they are rolling. The employees seemed like good guys who had been there a while, the owner is a younger guy(35-40ish) who used to spin tubes! He said they are in the process of adding a machining section, or a cold-worked section, and I have a background in machining and fabrication.(Acrylic). So he said that when they complete that area that they would be interested in hiring me. I would have to get over the buzzer crap, Im spoiled, but Im considering it for a couple reasons. 1 is insurance, and the other is the learning experience of working lathes and BIGASS torches. I mean BIG. They run on hydrogen and oxygen, the same thing that puts the space shuttle into orbit!

**NUBBLET** · 06-23-2005, 02:20 PM

Scientific glasswork will ALWAYS be around . The only prob I saw was they tend to hire orientals around here (they work cheap and quick and wont complain) . I thought about it and if you got some underground sci work going or just private , you would make bank , I was checkin out Kimlbe and their sci lab work , the shit is spendy as hell for not that radical of an apparatus , tube(s) with shaped bubble and some tube seals and crap like that , some shit was way crazy though.

**Islandglass Man** · 06-24-2005, 04:41 AM

The quartz industry is stable right now as long as silicon development and high temperature physic are alive in the US..

Look if you want to work in the scientific glassblowing world you have to do some of your own research, go to Vineland,NJ. That is the place where the big scientific apparatus companies are located. Apply for a job and start at the bottom like everyone else has done in this profession. Spend the next 3 to 5 years learning all you can then break out on your own and don’t worry about bells or buzzers sounding for breaks or lunch. Remember the whole package comes with benefits and a paycheck.

It’s been a good ride for me for the last 36 years. Times have changed but the work has stayed about the same. Once you learn the techniques and form your own style you will have the tools you need to work for yourself or any employer.

Life is short do it all.

Bear